First Alliance Church ATL

03-25-20 Kevin Goins - The Church's Ministry of Healing, Part 2

“Anatomy of an Illness: The Church’s Ministry of Healing”

John 9:4 (Part 2)

I First, sickness gets our attention and it gets the attention of Jesus (9:1).
II Second, sickness makes us uncomfortable (9:2).
III Third, sickness is caused by alienation (9:2).
IV Fourth, oftentimes our best theological or commonsense explanations for sickness are not good enough (9:3a).
V Fifth, sometimes sickness happens for a good reason, so that God can be glorified in our life (9:3b).
VI Sixth, all believers in Jesus are called to help sick people find health (9:4).
A. The first thing this verse tells us is that we are living in the day.

B. Second, this verse says that we are ____________ with Jesus.

1. We would expect Jesus to say, “______ must do the work of him who sent me.”

a. At first glance we might expect that the “we” is Jesus, the ______ and ______, the Father.

b. That makes ______ sense because “him who sent me” is clearly God the Father and so Jesus would be saying, “God the Father and I must do the work which God the Father sent us to do.”

2. If the “we” isn’t Jesus and God, who is it? The “we” is Jesus and his ______________. Why do I say that?

a. It is to his followers that Jesus is ____________.

b. It was the followers of Jesus who _________ his attention to the blind man’s situation in the first place.

c. Jesus knew his followers were ________________ him into the blind man’s circumstances, and it is to them that Jesus says, “We must do the work of him who sent me.”

3. The disciples followed Jesus as ___________ following a ___________. They learned from him how to minister to _______ ___________.

4. Like the disciples we ________ _______ needy people to Jesus by bringing them to him in ___________.

5. We, _______ and ______, are the “we” who join Jesus in his work.

6. The truth is, all of our life is _____________. God has directions for us _________ day of our life.

7. When we encounter the sick, we have a calling to be agents of ______________ to them.

8. When believers tell us about their illnesses, not only can we pray for them, we can also encourage them to follow the instructions found in ______________ _____:_____-_____.

03-22-20 Kevin Goins - The Church's Ministry of Healing, part 1

“Anatomy of an Illness: The Church’s Ministry of Healing”  John 9:1-38

What does John 9 teach us about sickness?

I First, sickness gets our a____________ and it gets the a______________ of Jesus (9:1).

II Second, sickness makes us un_________________ (9:2).

III Third, sickness is caused by a__________________ (9:2).

IV Fourth, oftentimes our best t________________ or c__________________ explanations for sickness are not good enough (9:3a).

V Fifth, sometimes sickness happens for a g_________ r_____________, so that God can be g______________ in our life (9:3b).

VI Sixth, all believers in Jesus are called to help _______ people find _____________ (9:4).

A. Jesus’ answer stopped the disciples from b____________ anyone for the man’s blindness, but Jesus has much m________ to say about the subject of sickness.

1. The disciples wondered who was to blame for the man’s blindness, but Jesus expands the discussion to what should be done for those who are s___________ and d________________.

2. Jesus begins, “As long as it is d_________....”

B. The first thing this verse tells us is that we are living in the __________. How can we say we are living in the day?

1. First, in verse 4 Jesus says while night is coming, it is ______ here yet.

a. Yes, there is darkness around us, but we can c___________ to look to the light.

b. We are not to be focused on the ___________ darkness – we are to be s____________________ focused on the light that is all around us now.

2. Second, we know we are living in the day because Jesus defines “night” as the time when “no one can work,” but this is a time when we, believers in Jesus, ________ working.

a. The church is at work today d______________ the good news of the Gospel.
b. And, the church is ministering God’s grace to those who are burdened by s___________, f_________________ needs, and f_________.

3. Third, in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 Paul shows us that it is day because people can _____________ to believe in Jesus.

a. This is day because a person can h_____ the Gospel and can d___________ to believe in and follow Jesus.

b. Because this is day, and because the light is now shining, _______ are invited by Jesus himself to trust in him and to become his c_______________.

4. Finally, this is day, not only because Jesus is now i___________ people to him, but because his children are now r_____________ his glory.

a. By reflecting Jesus, you and I make it _______ for the people around us.

b. We do that, not by b___________ light, but by r______________ the light of Jesus.

 

 

03-14-20 Kevin Goins - Message to the Congregation

Pastor Kevin's message to the congregation re: closing due to COVID-19

03-01-20 Kevin Goins - Anatomy of An Illness, part 2

“Anatomy of an Illness”
John 9:1-38

Last Sunday we said that John 9 gives us an anatomy of illness. An anatomy is a study of how something works. This chapter shows us how sickness works and how people respond to it. What does John 9 teach us about sickness?

I First, sickness gets our attention and it gets the attention of Jesus (9:1).
II Second, sickness makes us uncomfortable (9:2).

III Third, sickness is caused by _________________________ (9:2).

A. Alienation comes from the word alien which means s____________ or o____________. Alienation is the act of ____________ someone into a stranger or an “other.”

B. There are _________ forms or kinds of alienation that we see in Genesis:

1. First, there is ________________ alienation.

a. Why was there a tree of the knowledge of good _____ evil? Why didn’t God __________ allow them to know good?

b. To be good you must be able to choose good, but you cannot choose good unless you can also choose __________.

c. Because of their sinful choice, Adam and Eve were __________ from the Garden of Eden, which was the place where God used to walk and talk with them.

2. Second, there is __________________ alienation.

-What does social alienation do? It creates ______________; it leads to crime and war and hatred and racism and acts of violence, and it endangers our _____________.

3. Third, there is _________________ alienation.

a. Before the fall Adam and Eve didn’t fight animals or eat animals – instead they ______________ the animals.

b. Now, because of sin we are alienated from the ___________ kingdom and from the _____________ earth, and that alienation has made us __________.

4. Lastly, there is _______________ alienation.

02-23-20 Kevin Goins - Anatomy of An Illness

“Anatomy of an Illness”
John 9:1-38

In 1979 Norman Cousins wrote a groundbreaking book entitled, Anatomy of an Illness. He wrote that book because he was suffering from a connective-tissue disease which had crippled him and he had to try and make sense of it. We may not be at the mercy of such a disease, but sickness is so common that we must make sense of it. The Bible can enable us to do that.

I John devotes an entire chapter to the healing of a blind man so that we can see an illness in all its d________________.

A. You and I cannot afford to see the healing miracles of Jesus in a shallow and superficial way because sickness is a terrible _____________ to everyone.

B. Two decades ago the U.S. ranked eleventh in terms of life expectancy, but we have now fallen to __________-_____________ in the world.

C. There is another statistic we cannot ignore: the mortality rate, and the mortality rate still stands at ___________ percent.

II What do we learn about sickness in this chapter?

A. First, sickness gets our __________________ (9:1).

1. The disciples noticed the blind man, but what John emphasizes in verse one is that Jesus noticed ___________.

2. Why would Jesus go to the trouble of noticing another sick person? Because that was his God-given _______________.

3. According to Isaiah, the work of Jesus in saving us from sin, and his work as healer, are somehow ____________ _________________.

4. That means that just as Jesus could not help but notice s____________, so also he could not help but notice the s___________.

B. Second, sickness makes us ________________________ (9:2).

1. The disciples needed an explanation for the man’s blindness that could keep them from seeing him as a _____________.

2. We are so threatened by the idea that terrible imperfection can exist in our world that we try to find someone to ____________.

3. We feel that something is wrong with a world in which people are born blind and children die of cancer, and the Bible says we are _________.

02-16-20 Kevin Goins - the Discipline of Fasting, Conclusion

“The Discipline of Fasting” (Conclusion) Matthew 6:16-18

For the past month we have been looking at how we can grow in our relationship with God by using the spiritual discipline of fasting. In Matthew 6 Jesus first emphasizes the negatives of fasting and then he focuses our attention on the positives of fasting:

I First, fasting allows us to reach up to God as whole persons.
II Second, fasting gives us a concrete way to express repentance.
III Third, fasting provides a way to share in the sufferings of Christ.
IV Fourth, fasting helps our prayer.

V Fifth, fasting helps us overcome __________________.
A. Practicing the discipline needed to say “No” to our appetite for _______ gives us practice in saying “No” to __________ appetites.
B. If we cannot say “No” to our appetite for food, what makes us think we can say “No” to _______ other appetite?

VI Sixth, fasting helps us express our _____________.
____________ of the first _________ times fasting is mentioned in the Bible, it is an expression of grief for someone’s death.
What do we typically do when someone is grieving? We bring them ___________.

VII Seventh, fasting provides a way to respond to the ________ of others.
A. Since fasting is a blessing that comes from God, we can expect that it will benefit more than just _________________.
B. The early church practiced fasting in the light of __________ ____.

VIII Lastly, fasting provides a means to experience God in a ______ ______.
A. If our appetite for physical food, comfort, or pleasure is not under control, it will _______________ our spiritual appetite.
B. Occasional fasting from ___________ can enable us to hear _______ things from God.

02-09-20 The Discipline of Fasting, Part 3

“The Discipline of Fasting” (Pt. 3) Matthew 6:16-18

This January we are focusing on how we can grow in our relationship with God by using the spiritual discipline of fasting. In Matthew 6 Jesus first emphasizes the negatives of fasting [see message on 1/19] and then he
focuses our attention on the positives of fasting:

I First, fasting allows us to reach up to God as whole persons.
II Second, fasting gives us a concrete way to express repentance.
III Third, fasting provides a way to share in the sufferings of Christ.

IV Fourth, fasting helps our ______________.
A. This is why we emphasize fasting at the beginning of the New Year, because we need to pray for God’s d______________ and p_____________ for 2020.
B. How can fasting assist our prayers?

1. First, we need to talk about how it _____________ help our prayers: It cannot help our prayers by _____________ God to answer us.
2. How then, does fasting help our prayers?

a. First, fasting _____________ us to pray.
b. Second, fasting removes ___________________.
c. Third, fasting shows us when our ___________ is really in our prayer.

C. What kind of prayer calls for fasting?
1. First we ought to fast when we pray for our _______________.
2. Second, we ought to fast when we pray for the ____________.

a. The Bible describes sickness as ________________.
b. By fasting we can pray for the sick, not as s______________, but as i______________.

3. Third, we ought to fast as we pray for ____________________.
4. Lastly, we ought to fast as we pray for the _______ of God to be done in this _______________.

02-02-20 Kevin Goins - The Discipline of Fasting, Part 2

“The Discipline of Fasting, Part 2” Matthew 6:16-18

This January we are focusing on how we can grow in our relationship with God by using the spiritual discipline of fasting. In Matthew 6 Jesus emphasizes the positives of fasting, but he first begins with three potential negatives.

I The first negative of fasting is the NO evangelicals have typically said to fasting (6:16a).
II The second negative of fasting is the No Jesus says to the abuse of fasting (6:16).
III The third negative of fasting is the No our physical bodies sometimes say to fasting.

IV There are two clues in Matthew 6 that fasting is not a ____________, but something decidedly _____________.

A. First, Jesus says when you fast don’t look ___________ (6:16a).

B. Second, Jesus says the focus of our fasting is not ____________ (6:18).

V The rewards of fasting:

A. First, fasting allows us to reach up to God as _________ persons.

1. Fasting puts the body front and center in our relationship with God so that we are not just a _______ or ___________ worshiping God.

2. Not only this, but when worship ignores the body, it not only deprives the body, it _________ the ________ of our spirit.

B. Second, fasting gives us a concrete way to express _________________.

1. Repentance is a change of __________ which produces a change in the way we _________.

2. The practice of repentance went all the way back to God’s command to the people of Israel when they __________ became a __________.

3. The biblical pattern is that repentance and fasting go ________ in _________.

C. Third, fasting provides a way to share in the ____________ of Christ.

1. We cannot share in the __________________ of Christ unless we are first willing to share in his sufferings.

2. The great thing about fasting is that it gives us a simple way to _________ ourselves.

01-26-20 Kevin Goins - The Discipline of Fasting

“The Discipline of Fasting” Matthew 6:16-18

This January we are focusing on how we can grow in our relationship with God by using the spiritual discipline of fasting. Fasting has many advantages, but one advantage which is often overlooked is that this discipline can open our eyes to who we really are better than just about anything else we can do. In our text today Jesus emphasizes the positives of fasting, but he first begins with three potential negatives.

I The first negative of fasting is the NO A__________ e_____________ have said to fasting (6:16a).

A. One reason evangelicals have said no to fasting is because our culture has led us to the unbiblical view that the __________ is the enemy of the ___________.

B. But there are other reasons why we American evangelicals have a bias against fasting:

1. First, we associate fasting with what __________ _____________ do.

2. Second, we see it as a __________.

3. Third, fasting contradicts our _______________ mind-set.

II The second negative of fasting is the No __________ says to the ___________ of fasting (6:16).

A. The Pharisees took fasting, which was given by God, and used it as a way to _______________ themselves.

B. Jesus says people who fast to get noticed will be noticed, but that is all the _______________ they will get.

C. And we not only see this abuse of fasting in the Pharisees, we also see it throughout ___________ ___________.

III The third negative of fasting is the No our ___________ __________ sometimes say to fasting.

A. There are times when fasting is not advised, such as fasting during an _______________.

B. Some ____________ conditions make fasting dangerous.

01-19-20 Kevin Goins - What we must do to hear from God

“What We Must Do to Hear From God” Luke 2:36-38

Many people, both Christian and non-Christian, would like to hear from God, but how do we make that happen? In the Christmas story we find someone who can teach us what we must do to hear God speak to us. Her name is Anna. What does she teach us about listening to God?

I First, we cannot be satisfied with a s___________________ life .
A. Anna’s _______ was to hear from God.
B. Hearing from God ran in her _____________.
C. Her desire to hear from God made her s________ o_______.
D. Anna’s biggest __________ was to hear from God.
E. Jesus made it clear that the superficial life h_________ our relationship with God.

II Second, we must be __________ we can hear from God (2:37b).
A. While Anna waited to hear from God about the birth of the Messiah, she was a_________ on what she had already heard
B. The only place we can really hear from God is a place of ___________________.

III Third, we must ask like we really _____________ it (2:37c).
A. Just as Anna fasted for Jesus to come the ________ time, so we must fast for him to come the _____________ time.
B. Fasting, as Richard Foster points out, is all about _________ from God.

IV Finally, if we want to hear from God, we must know what to do with the ________________ (2:38). -- Three things we must do if we want answers:
A. We must ______________ an answer.
B. We must _________ _______________ for the answer.
C. We must ____________ about the one who is the answer.